4 ms·

I see where you’re coming from with that. Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. But people

I see where you’re coming from with that. Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. But people feel intense pressure to follow the norm. In the absence of clear messaging from some third-party authority, that norm is generally “what we’ve always done.” Messaging like this can change the perceived norm to “it’s okay to stay home this year.”

zerkten 6y ago
> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. With the pandemic I completely stopped following the details of the aviation and airline industries (a combo of not flying and impact to my family working there.) In normal times, many tickets would be changeable with a hefty change fee. Has the industry switched to even more restrictive "use it or lose it" fares?
_nothing 6y ago
That's a good point, and I hope this is the case. It just seems that, as with many things these days, people I've encountered are so set in their opinions that contrary messages from anyone, even (or especially) an authority, wouldn't change anything for them. But I hope you're right.
chadash 6y ago
> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. Pretty much every airline is offering credits for future travel, at the very least. I doubt too many people are in this position.
munificent 6y ago
> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable At least when the lockdown first kicked in during the spring, my impression is that most airlines let you cancel your tickets for a full-price credit that you could use later. That's what happened when I cancelled my "non-refundable" spring break tickets. I got an email from Alaska Airlines recently saying essentially the same thing. They'd rather let people cancel in return for a credit than have people simply not book at all out of fear of needing to cancel. Hell, they'd be happy to take your money now for a plane ticket in the future. It's basically a loan to help them weather the pandemic.
- tshaddox 6y ago
  From what I've seen it's quite the opposite, at least for "basic economy" style tickets. I bought tickets (which I will definitely not be using) and every extra bit of space on every page of the airline websites was filled with big warnings that nothing related to COVID is a valid excuse to get a flight change or refund.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
The messaging from medical experts has been about 99% on point. Those individuals who choose to listen to a certain lying-through-his-teeth-to-the-point-being-considered-the-norm commander-in-chief instead are the ones who are mostly doing these sorts of dangerous activities. It is really hard to have any sympathy for them. I have more sympathy for my wallet which ultimately pays the taxes that will be used by the government to fix the economy that would be a lot healthier if people listened to experts.

zerkten 6y ago

> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. With the pandemic I completely stopped following the details of the aviation and airline industries (a combo of not flying and impact to my family working there.) In normal times, many tickets would be changeable with a hefty change fee. Has the industry switched to even more restrictive "use it or lose it" fares?

_nothing 6y ago

That's a good point, and I hope this is the case. It just seems that, as with many things these days, people I've encountered are so set in their opinions that contrary messages from anyone, even (or especially) an authority, wouldn't change anything for them. But I hope you're right.

chadash 6y ago

> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable, they are likely to go anyway. Pretty much every airline is offering credits for future travel, at the very least. I doubt too many people are in this position.

munificent 6y ago

> Especially if someone has already booked flights that may be non-refundable At least when the lockdown first kicked in during the spring, my impression is that most airlines let you cancel your tickets for a full-price credit that you could use later. That's what happened when I cancelled my "non-refundable" spring break tickets. I got an email from Alaska Airlines recently saying essentially the same thing. They'd rather let people cancel in return for a credit than have people simply not book at all out of fear of needing to cancel. Hell, they'd be happy to take your money now for a plane ticket in the future. It's basically a loan to help them weather the pandemic.

tshaddox 6y ago
From what I've seen it's quite the opposite, at least for "basic economy" style tickets. I bought tickets (which I will definitely not be using) and every extra bit of space on every page of the airline websites was filled with big warnings that nothing related to COVID is a valid excuse to get a flight change or refund.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

The messaging from medical experts has been about 99% on point. Those individuals who choose to listen to a certain lying-through-his-teeth-to-the-point-being-considered-the-norm commander-in-chief instead are the ones who are mostly doing these sorts of dangerous activities. It is really hard to have any sympathy for them. I have more sympathy for my wallet which ultimately pays the taxes that will be used by the government to fix the economy that would be a lot healthier if people listened to experts.